


a lifetime with you

by anewkindofthrill



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, M/M, Paths, Romance, post chapter 123, spoilers obviously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-26 22:23:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21381553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anewkindofthrill/pseuds/anewkindofthrill
Summary: Levi has promised to kill Eren if he goes wild. Yet it would have been nice to spend more time with him.
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager
Comments: 7
Kudos: 73





	a lifetime with you

**Author's Note:**

> major spoilers for chapter 123

Levi sees the enormous carcass-like structure in front of him. Sees it with the one eye that isn’t blinded by crusted blood. 

Who would’ve thought that Eren’s final titan form turned out to be the ugliest motherfucker of them all. 

He has heard Eren’s announcement when he was climbing over what was left of the wall - which means one of those colossal titans. The titan didn’t even care about him one bit. Their order was to kill everyone  _ non _ -Eldian after all. 

Who the fuck knows if he was a full Eldian or not anyway, he has no idea of what an Ackermann exactly is. Maybe Eren has specified that the Ackermanns aren’t to be killed. 

Doesn’t matter. 

What matters is that it has to be stopped. Eren has to be stopped. 

_ “If he gets out of control, I will kill him.”  _

Climbing up that huge ribcage to get to Eren’s neck, Levi thinks about what he promised all that time ago. Sure, it was Erwin’s plan to get Eren into the Survey Corps, but Levi did mean it. Eren was an anomaly, a titan pretending to be a human. 

Quickly, Levi learned that the titan-aspect wasn’t even the main problem with Eren. Eren was a  _ monster _ pretending to be a human. 

_ “I will kill the titans. All of them.” _

Eren turned out to be the most willfull and hateful being Levi had ever encountered. 

It brought out the worst in Levi. 

Levi decided to teach Eren how to take that will, use that hate and be decisive. Levi was the one enabling Eren to take responsibility and go after Annie years ago when he forced him to make a decision. Levi was the one who told Eren to get a grip, to not let the guilt eat him up and do something about his situation, encased in the Reiss crystal cave. 

This is what has come out of it: An army of colossal titans marching the world, destroying every human being except the people of the island. Making them the true devils of the island, with the devil king commanding them,  _ forcing _ them to be free. 

Levi has to take responsibility for what he did, and he will. 

No matter how much he loves the devil. 

_ “Every titan shifter has only 13 years to live after obtaining their power.” _

There was so little light in that basement, they had only candles, but the fire brought out the colour of Eren’s eyes beautifully. Eren’s eyes were dry, stayed dry after learning that he didn’t have much longer to live, in stark contrast to Mikasa’s eyes, so very much like Levi’s in colour, which started to mist over immediately. 

Both of them were too engrossed in the information they were reading in Dr Jäger’s notes to notice that Levi’s eyes flooded over. 

He’d just lost his best friend, his commander, the deceiver who got him out of the hellhole, and the pain was almost unbearable. 

But he always somehow expected to have a lifetime with Eren. The only ones who wouldn’t die were Eren and Levi. Right? 

Not right.

Levi realized he loved the monster that was too detached to even mourn his own mortality. 

Levi stands firmly on the back of the enormous titan’s neck. There’s no way he will let Eren kill everyone. He thinks back to Marley; thinks about the little refugee who stole Sasha’s purse. Whom he saved from punishment anyway.

Humans are literal shit. A stinking pile of garbage. Levi doesn’t like them one tiny bit.

But they’re worth saving, no matter what. No matter their sins, their origin. He himself is a murderer, he killed so many people in the underground. He killed so many people by killing so many titans. 

And yet he won’t let any more die. Not even if his beautiful devil wants them to. Revenge and hatred may be what he is to the core, but he rejects himself. Rejects what he loves in Eren, what loves Eren so much. 

Still. If he only could have some more time with Eren… If Eren and him met under different cirumstances, in another time… If Eren didn’t have anything he needed to hate…

Levi sighs and positions his blades against Eren’s neck. He’s wondering why Eren lets him. But when has Eren ever defied his captain? 

He isn’t ashamed of the tears that come to his one eye. 

“Goodbye, Eren. I wish we could’ve had a life together.” 

“Then let’s. I’m tired, captain. Let’s take a break.” 

Eren is taking Levi’s hand and they walk through a field full of blue flowers. It’s a sunny day and Eren’s long hair is shining, finally clean and well taken care of. Levi looks around himself, with both eyes wide open - he isn’t holding his swords anymore. He’s wearing a heavy collarless linen shirt, neatly tucked in in black slacks with simple black shoes. Eren is wearing similar clothes, but his shirt is a few shades darker than Levi’s almost stark white one. 

“Let’s take a minute long break, captain. One year in  _ here _ is one second on the outside. The colossals won’t come super far.” 

Eren is crying, but he tries to smile through it. Tries to smile at Levi. 

Levi blinks away his own tears. “You made your decision, Eren?” 

Eren nods. 

Levi looks at the ground and nods himself. “Shit, sixty seconds? You’ll actually make me live until I’m 95 years old? You do know you will start having to wipe my ass at some point, idiot.” 

Finally, after so many months,  _ years _ , Levi hears Eren’s laughter. His vulgar jokes always made him laugh. 

The wind flows through Eren’s hair, shows Levi Eren’s face that is both crying and laughing, and Eren looks almost human.

Levi falls in love with him even more. 

The sky isn’t as bright blue as Levi remembers. It’s almost indigo sometimes, with teal lights in between, and the teal reminds Levi of something, but he doesn’t know what. 

The two of them find a cabin in the endless fields of crops and pastures and blue flowers. The world is ripe with fruit and animals and so, Eren and Levi become farmers. Every morning, Eren gets up earlier than Levi to pluck some of the flowers, which he puts into a vase on the table where breakfast will be ready for Levi when he wakes up. Levi has been an early riser during his whole life, but in this world he finds out that it has always been due to necessity - his lack of sleep, his constant vigilance. Here, he sometimes sleeps for nine to ten hours a night (what a waste of time), and he lets Eren to do most of the house keeping. 

Eren has been trained so well. 

“Do you want to come along to the town today, cap- Levi?” 

Levi takes another spoon full of delicious porridge with honey before answering. Levi loves keeping bees. He is good at keeping them happy and healthy. 

“I don’t think so, I have to take care of the sheep today, the wool is already way too long.” 

There is a town only two kilometres away from them - it must be Shinganshina, Levi thinks, or at least it must look like Shinganshina. Eren can build worlds in the Paths as he wants to, but apparently everything must be based on his memories, because when Levi goes to town with him, there’s only so many people he’d see over and over again. With some of them, Levi has formed some kind of friendship. Everyone accepts Levi and Eren living together at the outskirts of town, everyone wants to pay for their produce, and so the couple lives a good and meaningful life. 

Sometimes he takes a glimpse of the back of Mikasa’s head, or hears the sound of Armin’s voice. When that happens, he turns to Eren, opens his mouth to say something, but Eren just hisses, “don’t”. 

So Levi doesn’t, doesn’t want the spell to end. 

Eren kisses Levi’s hands, both of them not missing any fingers. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” 

They lie in their bed at night, the teal lights in the sky shining through the window. 

“How long has it been now?” Levi asks. 

Eren obviously hates that question. His mouth makes a grimace. “Almost six years.” 

“Six seconds then.” 

“Six  _ years _ .” 

Eren turns his back to Levi, and Levi kisses Eren’s neck. “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” Eren relaxes. 

It’s on the tip of Levi’s tongue -  _ not enough to stop? _ \- but he swallows down the stupid question. No one knows better than Levi that when Eren has decided on something, he won’t stop. 

It’s what Levi has taught him, after all. 

Silky long hair shifts and suddenly, Eren is above Levi, pinning him down, kissing him senseless. As if he wants to swallow stupid questions from Levi’s tongue himself, he licks, he bites, he moans. 

Levi lets himself fall into the monster’s attack, savours the pleasure but treasures the pain the most. 

One day, around ten years

_ ten seconds _

in, a young girl stands in front of their door. 

Levi hasn’t thought it possible, but 29-year-old Eren looks even better than at 19-year-old. He’s kept the long hair, now more often in a ponytail than not, but he keeps himself clean-shaven, just as Levi likes it. 

The captain himself didn’t change too much - “it’s creepy how little you age,” Eren says more often than not, which helps Levi to overcome his suspicion that Eren  _ makes _ it so he won’t age. Sure, his hair loses more and more pepper while it adds the salt, and his bad leg gets worse, but he doesn’t look his 45 years at all. 

He feels them though, and more, when Eren suggests to give little Ymir a home. 

Ymir’s first boyfriend fucked up and Levi is  _ livid _ . 

“Calm down, Levi, I want to kill the little runt myself, but they’re  _ fifteen _ ...” Eren gently hugs Levi from behind after they left Ymir’s room, the girl finally sleeping after crying her beautiful teal eyes out. 

Levi snorts. 

_ You’re the one to speak.  _

_ You created that person.  _

_ You will kill everyone that wronged Ymir.  _

“Should I remind you how you felt when you were fifteen, Eren?” 

Eren lets go to move around to the kitchen. He prepares their nightly tea and shoots Levi a lopsided grin. “I remember very well how my insanely hot captain broke my heart by firmly ignoring every advance I made.” 

Levi rolled his eyes. “You were  _ fifteen _ .” 

“Yes you pervert, and now I’m 39 whereas you are 55. So?” He laughs when Levi winces at the thought. He puts down the hot tea to go to Levi, who leans against the doorframe of their kitchen. 

Eren takes Levi’s face in his hand and gives Levi a smiling but very tender kiss. “At least you wanted me back at some point.” 

Another kiss. More wistful smiles. “Idiot, I have always wanted you. I will always want you.” 

The reality of their existence hangs between them, but a few more kisses, a few more touches, and they make it go away. 

They still have the rest of their lifetime to finish. 

Levi is resting on the well-used rocking chair on their veranda. His three granddaughters - all of them almost adults themselves now - have planted a plethora of flowers in their garden, and it’s Levi’s favourite pastime to look at them, sitting out on the veranda. 

Ever since he turned 87, which has been a few years ago, there hasn’t been any winter yet. The older he got, the worse his pains got, especially when it was cold outside, so it stopped being cold outside. Levi has never commented on it, nor will he - they have stopped speaking about that particular topic a long time ago. 

“Thank you, Eren,” he whispers and takes the cup of tea with both of his trembling hands.

Eren sits down next to him - still incredibly handsome to Levi, even though he must have passed 70 years a long time ago. 

Wait. 

How many years have it been now? 

Eren takes Levi’s hand after he put down the tea as if he knows what Levi’s thinking about. 

They both look out to the unnatural sky, to the unnatural looking fields - blue flowers everywhere, in between the crops, in the lush green grass where cows and sheeps are grazing. 

Everything has a hue to it. The world looks like Eren’s silver eyes. 

Eren’s eyes are his world, really. 

Even though old, Eren is still somehow pretty flexible - Levi smiles as he thinks that yes, the brat is still much younger than he is. Eren bends down at the side to let his head rest on Levi’s thin, brittle thighs. 

None of them has lost a lot of hair, and so Levi has still got the pleasure to move his spotted, thin hands through strands of white silkiness. Eren closes his eyes and sighs.

And suddenly, Levi knows that time is up. 

He expects to feel pain - he will have to leave his daughter and his granddaughters, the people he has loved the most in his whole life. 

Even if they hadn’t been real. 

But there is no pain, not really. He’s had a beautiful life, his beautiful monster who looks so tame and old in his lap made it for him. 

“The last present for my captain,” Eren mumbles. “It has been good, right? I have done well?” 

Levi smiles. “You have done very well, brat.” He keeps playing with black long hair, carresses the young face lying on his strong thighs. 

There’s sobbing, and Eren’s nails dig deep into Levi’s thigh. “You know that I just want to do well, right?”

“I know, love.” 

“You know that I just want to do what is right? I just… I just- want to save you. To save my family. Mikasa and Armin. The others. I love you all so much, Levi.” The strong back 

_ the enormous carcass  _

is trembling with sobs, and Levi gently pets it. 

“I know. You decided that this is the way to go.” 

“Are you proud of me, Levi?” Big silver-teal eyes are looking up to him as Levi cuts Eren out of the huge neck, as he has always done. 

Levi smiles through his tears and grips his swords. 

“Of course I am, love. Let’s meet in our next lifetime, okay? I will take care of you, as I always have.” 

Eren closes his eyes and smiles. He stops breathing after Levi puntures his lungs and cuts his head off. 

The titans keep marching under the indigo-teal sky. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading, comments and kudos are much appreciated.


End file.
